Surah Zukhruf ayat 58 Tafsir Quran 43:58

﴿وَقَالُوا أَآلِهَتُنَا خَيْرٌ أَمْ هُوَ ۚ مَا ضَرَبُوهُ لَكَ إِلَّا جَدَلًا ۚ بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ خَصِمُونَ﴾
[ الزخرف: 58]

43:58 And they said, "Are your gods better, or is he?" They did not present the comparison except for [mere] argument. But, [in fact], they are a people prone to dispute.

And they say ‘Are our gods better or he?’ Jesus. We are satisfied that our gods be in the same predicament with him. They only cite this that is the example to you for the sake of contention merely arguing with falsehood for they know that the particle mā of wa-mā ta‘budūna ‘and what you worship’ refers only to non-rational beings and cannot therefore include Jesus peace be upon him. Nay but they are a contentious lot an extremely disputatious folk.

Knowing that he is venerated as a deity by Christians and that you Muhammad might have consigned him with their idols, to damnation, they created a connected series of statements intended to annoy you and subvert your position when they said: Are our Gods the better or Him, and if his abode is Hell, we and our Gods would love to be there. They are quarrelsome people given to contention

(43:58) and said: 'Who is better, our deities or he?' *52 They said so only out of contentiousness. They are a disputatious people.

And they said, "Are your gods better, meaning

*52) In verse 45 above, it was said: " You may ask all other Messengers whom We sent before you whether We had appointed any other gods to be worshipped beside the Merciful God. " When this discourse was being presented before the people of Makkah, a person called `Abdullah ibn az-Ziba'ra in the traditions, put forward the objection: " Well, is it not a fact that the Christians regard the son of Mary as the son of God and worship him ? What is then wrong with our gods? " This caused much laughter among the crowd of the disbelievers and they started clamoring for an answer to this objection.
But at this foolish behavior, the continuity of the revelation was not broken, but was first completed and then the objection of the questioner was taken up.
( It should be borne in mind that this incident has been reported in the books of commentaries in different ways which contain great variations, but after a study of the context and the traditions the real incident in our view is the same as we have mentioned above ).

 

( And say ) i.e. ’Abdullah al-Zib’ari: ( Are our gods better ) O Muhammad, ( or is he ) i.e. Jesus the son of Mary? For if he is allowed in the Fire with the Christians, we are also allowed therein with our deities. ( They raise not the objection ) they do not mention Jesus the son of Mary ( save for argument ) save for wrangling and dispute. ( Nay! but they are a contentious folk ) they argue in defence of falsehood.

And say: "Are our aliha (gods) better or is he ['Iesa (Jesus)]?" They quoted not the above example except for argument. Nay! But they are a quarrelsome people. [(See VV. 21:97-101) - The Quran.]

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